Henry Thomas Segerstrom died recently, on February 20, 2015. Segerstrom was an American entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was the founding chairman of the Orange County Performing Arts Center, now known as the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Segerstrom is one of Karsh's lesser-known subjects for whom we get regular requests.

Giving cameras to farmers in northern Ghana has not just resulted in increased awareness of their development needs and more control over their lives - an enthusiastic volunteer with Christian Aid dropped me a line to tell me about "My Home, My Farm", a wonderful project she has been helping to develop into an exhibition in London.

From the press release: "We believe that the future of international development lies in utilising modern and innovative communication methods. Ghanaian farmers are faced with the problem of having little or no access to market information. This forces them to sell their produce at the roadside to tradesmen and middlemen at very low prices.

Christian Aid partnered with Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana (YHFG) to develop the MyPharm project. This supplies the farmers with mobile phones and weekly text messages informing them exactly what their produce is worth. To record the progress of the project Christian Aid and YHFG partnered with PhotoVoice to give the farmers cameras and photography training. The result is a collection of beautifully honest photographs."

"The whole community has to use this one borehole, and it is hard to get enough. It takes a long time and everyone, young and old, has to wait to get what they need for their family. Sometimes this causes quarrels about who should take water first."

"This photograph was exhibited at the Chief's Palace of Anafobisi where it caught the eye of community water and sanitation staff. They were so moved by the image that they have now provided an additional borehole for the community. Jonas Awinpala has also brought business into the community. He photographed baskets that people in his community had weaved and sent the images to an entrepreneur who has now entered into a contract with the community. Jonas has made approximately £192 from his photography."

You see now this is how to pay homage to the Greats in my opinion: in marvelously good taste, and with a statement to make about gender (especially in comparison to the hideously awful Sandro Miller/John Malkovich repellent bunch of knock-offs which is still pissing me off).

"After Mapplethorpe"

"For this early body of work being presented at ClampArt, Samuels created twelve astonishingly faithful reconstructions of portraits of nude women from the history of photography by such modern masters as Paul Outerbridge, Man Ray, Edward Weston, and Richard Avedon, among others. However, in place of the female subjects, Samuels has staged himself "before the camera."

"After Belloq"

Between seeing these in person, and the superb press release (nice work, Brian Clamp) I am over-excited! Samuels prints and presents the photographs in the same size and style as they were originally displayed.

"After Newton"

"After Weston"

"...Samuels caps his deconstructive statement by asking women to click the shutter release on the camera, finalizing his gender inversion. While everyone is aware of the ubiquity and violence of female objectification in Western culture, by parodying these iconic art historical images with his own body, Samuels establishes himself as an erotic object, confusing a typically implicit male gaze. As Deborah Bright writes in her groundbreaking book "The Passionate Camera": "Samuels' photographs expose the consistent heterosexist underpinnings of elite culture and taste as he vamps and camps through official photo history. Even better, he overtly homosexualizes those master photographers whose signature styles remain carefully preserved."

#splat is a new project from New Yorker Steven Hirsch. I'm almost tempted to withhold what they are photographs of, but that would probably be fun only for me, so... they're photographs of the insides and outsides of dumpsters. That's big street bins to my Brit pals. I've never noticed anything like it, but I am definitely on the look-out as of now.

I and a bunch of my esteemed colleagues are in the process of judging a competition. It's the umpteenth competition with umpteen entries that are "looking for the beauty in the every-day" or somesuch. Mostly, they're just mundane photographs. This is an example of the idea really working.

Just dug this portrait of Colonel Harland Sanders out of the Karsh archives. As a vegetarian, it's hard for me to sing his praises. But it's another cracking portrait from Mr. Karsh. A print was recently gifted as part of a major donation to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.

Italian photographer Stefania Notizia is educating us this week. The Turkish Yörüks live in the eastern part of Macedonia. The Yörüks are referred to as nomadic tribes of Turkmen origin who had emigrated from the steppes of Central Asia to Anatolia, and from there, in several waves, settled the eastern part of the Balkans. Their name derives from the Turkish verb yürü-, which means "to walk".

According to an essay by Elizabeta Koneska, ethnologist at Museum of Macedonia, Skopje, they were first noted in the Balkan region by the end of the 14th century. Their gradual immigration went on during the 15th century, it intensified by the first half of the 16th century and concluded by the end of the 16th century. "The opinion prevailing among most researchers suggests that the migration of these nomadic-farming tribes mostly had to do with the conquering ambitions of the Ottoman Empire."

"The British Abroad" is a document by photographer Peter Dench. All around Europe's coasts you'll find the British equivalent to America's Spring Break only year-round and probably involving more sausage, bacon and eggs. Bars make obscene offers to partiers, who cause shame to their home country as a result! To give you a glimpse of the mind behind the project, here's a quote from Mr. Dench "The first time I went abroad was in 1986; the destination was the party town of Magaluf, Majorca. Aged 14, already a seasoned beer drinker, my parents decided it was OK for me to have an alcoholic spirit in my drink; the alcoholic spirit I chose was the white rum, Bacardi. Bacardi was cheaper than coke (my mixer of choice) and the measures reflected that. The bars delivered a buy one, get two free offer and my mum, dad and older sister (by three years) Jennifer, clattered 12 glasses onto our uneven metal table outside the Benny Hill party pub, not far from the Green Parrot Bollocks bar. We slowly sucked back the potent sugary blend through bendy straws and watched the mayhem gather." (Magaluf itself recently announced it has passed laws to curb drinking on its streets.)

Peter has launched a fundraiser, asking only for £6000 and as of writing he's almost there. His previous books are "A & E: Alcohol & England," and "England Uncensored," so you get his drift. It's only £20 to get a signed copy for your donation - less than most similar campaigns. Should be horrifying and fun! Get funding.

Long Biên Bridge is a cantilever bridge across the Red River that connects two districts of Hanoi, Vietnam. Now-regular contributor Patrick Fraser found time in his busy busy schedule to visit. The bridge was heavily bombed during the Vietnam War, and about half retains its original shape. Poor families live in boats under the bridge. (wikipedia)

It's been a while since I promoted a crowd-fund, but it's a new year and this is a project I can really get behind. John Irvine, born in Northern Ireland but living now in Scotland, wants to record the many miles of "peace walls" that were built during The Troubles with a view to separate Catholic from Protestant neighbour. I'd never even heard of this but I'm not surprised; they still exist and some Northern Irish think they should remain.

John started shooting last year but is looking for a few quid from sponsors so he can go back and make this project into a proper record. You can help here via Indiegogo.

Part of a peace divide that continues onto an external wall of a police station in West Belfast